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Sharks earn a point on
Marleau's heroics
SJ falls in the shootout after big
comeback
Patrick Marleau isn't the Sharks captain anymore,
but he's assumed the role of Captain Comeback this season. His clutch scoring
helped the Sharks tie the Los Angeles Kings with 3:32 left in regulation and
then again with 3.2 seconds left to extend the game to overtime on Thursday
night. Marleau's heroics were overshadowed by the fact that the Sharks were
forced to tie the game a second time after giving up a power play goal late.
Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped four of five shooters in the shootout
to help Los Angeles salvage the win.
San Jose's resiliency was
impressive late, but the Sharks two biggest weaknesses were exposed by Los
Angeles. San Jose can't seem to stop anyone on the penalty kill and shootouts
are not the Sharks friend. The shootout gets thrown out during the playoffs,
but effective special teams is one of the most important aspects of a
successful run in the second season. San Jose still has lots of work to do to
shore up their penalty-kill.
Dustin Brown scored two power play goals
on Thursday night, including a goal that put the Kings up with 1:42 left in
regulation. San Jose entered the game ranked 23rd in the league on the power
play, but they would slip another spot after dropping under 80% penalty killing
efficiency.
The Kings controlled the shot counter in the opening
period, due in part to their dominance in the faceoff circle. Los Angeles won
12 of 21 draws in the opening period. It was San Jose however who had the
better scoring chances.
Ryane Clowe missed on a nice opportunity near
the 13 minute mark, when a pin-balling puck found its way to the Shark
forward's stick. With Kings netminder Jonathan Quick sprawled out in front of
the net, Clowe tried to lift his shot but ended up bouncing off a defender out
front.
Marleau had a wrap-around chance with 2:30 left in the period,
but Quick got a pad down to deny the shot.
A slashing penalty to
Jarret Stoll with 27 seconds left in the period carried over to the 2nd period.
The Kings had killed 35 straight penalties leading up to the Stoll infraction,
but the Sharks ended that streak 35 seconds into the middle period.
Joe Pavelski converted with his 17th goal of the season, deflecting a Marleau
feed past Quick to give the Sharks the 1-0 lead. Pavelski was situated to the
left of the slot, but he got his stick on the Marleau feed, chipping it over
Quick's right shoulder and into the Kings net.
Jamal Mayers would give
the Kings a chance to equalize after taking a holding the stick penalty at
5:40. The Sharks Achilles heel was exposed for Dustin Brown, who punched a shot
home from just outside the left post with 20 seconds left in the penalty.
Energized by the Brown goal, the Kings began to buzz the Sharks net,
turning up the heat on Niemi. Defenseman Willie Mitchell put the Kings on top
less than two minutes later with a shot from the high slot that caught the
upper right corner of the net.
San Jose went almost 13 minutes between
shots, failing to apply any pressure to Quick or the Kings defense.
Clowe took an undisciplined roughing penalty with 5:20 left in the penalty
after Dany Heatley took an extra swipe at Alec Martinez. Clowe swooped in and
took a swipe at Martinez to earn a two minute trip to the penalty box.
The Sharks found themselves on a 2-on-1 during the penalty-kill, but Joe
Thornton's indecisiveness with the puck allowed Martinez to check him off the
puck before the Sharks captain could get a shot off.
Clowe was sent
off moments later for holding putting the Kings back on the power play for the
remainder of the period. San Jose killed the infraction, but it took away any
opportunity to try and score the equalizer.
The Sharks were out-shot 14-4 in what may have been
one of the worst periods of the season.
Alexei Ponikarovsky was sent
off for tripping Dan Boyle 51 seconds into the 3rd period, but a disjointed
power play kept the Sharks from even generating a single shot on net during the
man-advantage.
San Jose went back on the power play seven minutes
later after Martinez hauled Torrey Mitchell down while the Sharks were starting
to put something together in the Kings zone. Pavelski had a wide open net to
shoot on, but Quick stoned the Sharks forward with a nice kick save.
With the urgency of the clock weighing on them, the Sharks turned up the
pressure and somehow found a way to tie the game up with 3:32 left in
regulation. Marleau took a Demers feed up the left side and rifled a shot past
Quick for his 32nd goal of the season.
The jubilation of the late
comeback was short-lived when Thornton took a lazy penalty deep in the Los
Angeles zone, putting the Kings back on the power play.
Brown worked
his magic again, pumping a 20-foot shot through Niemi's five-hole after Michal
Handzus sent a pass to the Kings captain from the right corner with 92 seconds
left in regulation.
Marleau saved the Sharks bacon with his
heart-stopping goal late. Logan Couture setup the goal with a shot attempt from
the left side that Quick stopped, but the rebound kicked out to the right side
of the net, where Johnny-on-the-spot was there to flip it home and send the
game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Dan Boyle had a shot attempt
disintegrate on him when his stick broke, setting up a Kings 3-on-1. Los
Angeles would botch the entry, allowing the Sharks to get back. Anze Kopitar
would still manage to get a shot on net, but Niemi gloved it to keep the game
going.
In the shootout Handzus missed low to the stick side. Boyle
waited out Quick with a delayed entry, lifting the shot over the fallen
goaltender. The Kings argued that Quick hit the puck with a poke check, but
replays showed that he missed it. Stoll countered with a snap that that sailed
over Niemi's right shoulder. Quick stuffed Couture's jam shot from the left
side.
Kopitar missed with a weak deek move to the right. Clowe went to
the forehand, but Quick got the pad over to deny the Sharks forward. Niemi
denied Dustin Penner's five-hole try. Pavelski tried to go low to the stick
side, but Quick made the kick save. Brown scored with a wrister to the glove
side. Marleau flubbed his chance, mis-handling the puck on his approach to end
it.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
SO |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| LA |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
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| 2nd period - 1, SJ,
Pavelski 17 (Marleau, Thornton), 0:35, (pp). 2, LA, Brown 24 (Ponikarovsky,
Martinez), 7:18, (pp). 3, LA, Mitchell 4 (Moller, Smyth), 9:07. |
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| 3rd period - 4, SJ,
Marleau 32 (Demers), 16:28. 5, LA, Brown 25 (Handzus, Martinez), 18:28, (pp).
6, SJ, Marleau 33 (Clowe, Couture), 19:56. |
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| Shootout - LA: Handzus
(miss), Stoll (goal), Kopitar (miss), Penner (miss), Brown (goal). SJ: Boyle
(goal), Couture (miss), Clowe (miss), Pavelski (miss), Marleau (miss). |
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| 1st period - White, SJ
(interference), 5:35; Stoll, LA (slashing), 19:33. |
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| 2nd period - Mayers, SJ
(holding the stick), 5:40; Clowe, SJ (roughing), 14:40; Clowe, SJ (holding),
17:49. |
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| 3rd period -
Ponikarovsky, LA (tripping), 0:51; Martinez, LA (tripping), 8:01; Thornton, SJ
(interference), 17:05. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Niemi |
38 |
35 |
| LA - Quick |
28 |
25 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
| SJ |
9 |
4 |
13 |
2 |
28 |
| LA |
13 |
14 |
7 |
4 |
38 |
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| Referees: Kimmerly,
Watson. Linesmen: Henderson, Sharrers. |
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